So I have a 1990 Prostar 190 that has been in the water for 2 weeks now. I live in the southeast and we've got a ton of ran lately (20 straight days). I've been on the boat just about every day during short dry spurts. Every time I get in the boat there is a couple inches of water in the engine compartment. The water pump has a small leak that I am going to fix this weekend, but I doubt it is dripping this much water into the boat. Anyone have any ideas on where this water could come from? Is there any chance it could be coming from the exhaust pipes? Whenever I dock it it sounds like water is getting under the exhaust caps. I can reach down and put pressure on the cap and the noise stops. Any help is greatly appreciated. I don't have pictures at this time but I will post them when I get them.

Take the engine cover off, then remove the back floor panel. Run the engine and get down and watch....more than likely you will see the culprit immediately. My guess is the muffler has a crack in it where it meets up with the long straight hose that exits out to the flappers. Could also be the shaft log seal or the thru-hull exhaust fittings out the back. Also check the raw water intake ( from bottom of boat, there is a screen) or finally one or both of the fittings for the Speedo tubes. If you can stop the leak or change the sound by pressing down as you stated, my bet is the muffler....

Thanks for the reply! I will have to check that out this weekend. Just some extra information. When I run the boat for 2 hours there tends to not be water in the compartment; it's just when it sits over night.

At rest it should drip 2 or 3 drops per minute. If it is dripping faster it should be tightened (or packing replaced). It is amazing how fast the water accumulates in the bilge. Leave the bilge pump in the auto position.

In my opinion it is common to have water seep back into the mufflers when sitting in the water. the main point of the flappers is to prevent a wave to force water back up into the engine.

I'm going to remove the engine cover tonight to check it out. I'm really new to boats so I'm not exactly sure what I'll be looking at, but I'm just going to look for water and try to figure out what it is coming from.

This might be dumb, but if I turn the auto pump switch on and leave it on over night is it going to drain my battery?

I'm going to remove the engine cover tonight to check it out. I'm really new to boats so I'm not exactly sure what I'll be looking at, but I'm just going to look for water and try to figure out what it is coming from.

This might be dumb, but if I turn the auto pump switch on and leave it on over night is it going to drain my battery?

the pump would have to run constantly to drain battery. but if your concerned you can run a battery tender at the dock.

__________________...A bad day water skiing still beats a good day at work...1995 Pro Star 205....

I use the boat every day or every other day. So there is a slim chance auto pump kills the battery right?

A floating boat, with a dead battery is better than a, sunk boat with a good battery.

You said, "the boat in the water and nearly daily showers." Doesn't take much rain, even with a cover, to fill the bilge with water. (Mine completely filled Sunday nite, with a two hour rain. My boat was on the trailer, and it was time to clean the bilge...so I dump some deterent in and let it rain. It was completely full, including ski storage locker.)

Other than that, yep packing gland (shaft) couple of drips every minute when turning, is fine. Zero when sitting. Cracked mufflers, easy to fix. Old water lines, weeping, etc.

I cover the boat every day and it's under a covered roof. I suspected the rain as the culprit at first but the boat cover is never even damp, so that's when I started suspecting a leak. Is there a thread about the shaft seal and/ or cracked mufflers?